live-action
Americanadjective
-
of or relating to movies, videos, and the like, that feature real performers, as distinguished from animation.
A new live-action version of the classic animated film will be released later this year.
-
Informal. live.
Other Word Forms
- live action noun
Etymology
Origin of live-action
First recorded in 1955–60
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Disney’s live-action adaptation “Lilo & Stitch” brought in more than $1 billion in global box office revenue and Warner Bros.’
From Los Angeles Times
Codd appeared in a live-action remake of How To Train Your Dragon earlier in 2025.
From BBC
The list of PG hits this year also included the live-action remake of “How to Train Your Dragon,” which improbably beat the latest “Mission: Impossible.”
This was also a year when Pixar’s “Elio” flopped and Disney’s live-action “Snow White” was left for dead.
It is also the highest PG-rated ticket pre-seller ever on the Fandango platform, passing 2017’s live-action “Beauty and the Beast,” 2019’s animated hit “Frozen 2” and the first “Wicked.”
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.